Monthly Archives: October 2019

Aerojet Rocketdyne has signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA in Alabama to design and build a key rocket engine part using additive manufacturing or 3D printing. The company opened a big new rocket propulsion Advanced Manufacturing Facility in north Huntsville earlier this year.

The rocket piece the company plans to build for NASA is a lightweight engine thrust chamber assembly. Thats the business end of the engine where fuels combine, ignite and channel out the bottom to produce thrust.

The goal of the project is twofold. NASA wants to cut the cost of building rocket engine parts, and Aerojet and NASA want scalable rocket parts that can be made quickly and made larger or smaller for space craft from large boosters to small lunar landers. As we look to the future of space exploration, efficiency and scalability will be key, which is why we are excited to work with NASA on this innovative thrust chamber for rocket engines, Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and President Eileen Drake said in a statement. The technology we develop will leverage the most advanced additive manufacturing techniques and materials to help provide efficient and safe transportation to and through space.

Drake was in Alabama in June to officially open Aerojet Rocketdynes two new facilities: a 136,000-square-foot advanced manufacturing facility and a new 122,000-square-foot Defense Headquarters building aimed a winning more defense contracts at Redstone Arsenal. Huntsville is a great place to build a future, and thats what were doing with our expansion here, Rocketdyne CEO Eileen Drake said in Huntsville then.

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Aerojet Rocketdyne teams with NASA in Alabama on new 3D printed rocket engine - AL.com

Space, animminent frontier? Sands Fish, a scientist and researcher, thinks so.

And so do many others who work with him at the MIT Media Lab's Space Exploration Initiative in Boston.

In the lab, Fish and a team of artists, scientists, engineers and designers work on innovative design projects with the goal of translating life on Earth to life in space.

These projects must take into account factors like zero gravity and the quirks of human interaction, among other things.

It's not all complicated technology, either. Things we take for granted in our everyday lives like furniture, shoesand even our hairstyles would have to be altered in order to live comfortably in the great beyond.

On Monday, Fish spoke with Doug Dirks on The Homestretch.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Q: What's the MITMedia space lab all about and what do you do there?

A: The space exploration initiative at the Media Lab is basically a lab where we think about things that are not typically explored in space.

So you can imagine it takes a lot of safety concern, engineering and science to make what happens in space happen. But we're more concerned with all of the things that aren't typically researched in space. Things like art, design and culture.

Q: You did two test flights in zero gravity. What did you test on those particular flights?

A: [For the]first one, we built a musical instrument that's supposed to be performed in zero gravity, as opposed to on the ground.

If you think about a piano, it wouldn't work in zero gravity because it has counterweights that bring the keys back up once you press them.

We created a musical instrument that tries to capture that poetic motion that you see when things float around in zero gravity.

As the instrument floats around in microgravity, you get some notes that maybe are really low and quiet when it's moving slowly. But if you spin it around, it will spin in front of you without you holding on to it, then you'll get a crescendo and you'll get louder notes and then higher notes.

Q: What about the impact of gravity on things like roots and plants and how they grow?

A: Well, on a planetary surface, it depends on how strong the gravity is. In orbit and in microgravity, it's a little bit more complicated.

A lot of people have seen how water behaves [in space] and basically forms these spheres.

You can't really pour water in microgravity into dirt and expect it to saturate the soil, and so you get things like root rot.

Q: Your research involved interviewing a number of astronauts and one of them talked about hair being an issue. What's that about?

A: I was talking to Catherine Coleman, who is an astronaut who was up at the International Space Station, and I was asking her how she thought culture was going to evolve once we're living in space in a more long-term basis.

She immediately said that she thought hairstyles were going to change.

When she went up there, she wanted to grow her hair out really long so that it was absolutely clear in photographs that a woman was in space.

But when shebraided her hair to keep it kind of out of her own face and others', she realized the texture of the braid was the same texture as the Velcro that they used to keep everything down up there.

You can imagine what happened. She would get caught on something in the wall.

The simple solution I guess would be for everybody to shave their head, right? But I'm pretty sure that that's not the future of hairstyles.

Q: What about shoes? Will we even need shoes [in space]?

A: [Astronauts] usually wear socks, but they tend to complain about pain on the tops of their feet instead of the bottom.

[It] makes sense intuitively. We're not being pressed down against the floor, so we don't really need that.

If you want to stay in one place in zero gravity, you've got to hook your feet under metal bars or straps.

I designed some sneakers that actually inverted that design and basically put the sole on the top of the sneaker instead of the bottom.

That's something we're prototyping now and we tested out on the last zero gravity flight that we went on.

Q: What about the impact on furniture design?

A: There's no up and down in space. So in space architecture, the walls can be the ceilings, the floors can be the walls.

That fundamentally changes the assumptions that you use when you're designing for something like furniture.

Q: How important do you think all this is, addressing mental wellness in space?

A: It's so important to study design and culture and art and how that evolves in space because none of us really want to just work all day and then go to sleep and then get up and work again.

What are the mundane everyday details that we'll have as comforts in space? I think that we haven't studied that quite as much as we could have because we're more focused on scientific and engineering missions. But that's going to become more and more important as we spend more time in space.

Q: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos would have us believe that we're all going to be going into space here in the next five to 10 years. What do you think?

A: That sounds a bit aggressive.

I'm suspicious of any one person that thinks they know exactly how the future of space is going to go.

I think I'm more interested in trying to build platforms and kind of democratize access to space so that more people can contribute to that vision.

Fish is in Calgary to share some of these ideas at the sixth annual Camp Festival at MRU, running Oct. 7-8.

The festival brings together renowned designers, artists, inventors and professionals to share ideas with a focus this year on the mental wellness of the creative mind.

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Space pianos and upside-down shoes: innovations for life in space - CBC.ca

Graphene materials maker Applied Graphene Materials (AGM) and weight vessel producer Infinite Composites Technologies have teamed up to build up a composite material for space investigation.Preceding this headway, AGM and Infinite Composites directed an across the board item improvement and testing program.The association saw the utilization of AGMs graphene innovation in two gum frameworks for cryogenic weight tanks.These vessels are as of now being investigated by NASA for use in a few spaceflight missions, just as International Space Station Experiments (MISSE), Artemis and Lunar Gateway programs.The consolidation of AGMs graphene innovation has helped the compartments in finishing their first fluid oxygen stacking test at - 300F.The utilization of AGM innovation brought about the expulsion of almost all microfractures in tar tests.Checking electron magnifying instrument procedures were utilized to perform point by point assessments of the composite structure.Applied Graphene Materials CEO Adrian Potts stated: "AGM is pleased to work with the Infinite Composites group on this energizing improvement exertion to help the eventual fate of room flight and practical transportation."In requesting applications, for example, this, where disappointment isnt an alternative, it is satisfying that our graphene scatterings are driving the exhibition of composite materials. We compliment the Infinite Composites group and anticipate adding to encourage triumphs."In July, Infinite Composites won Oklahomas Small Business Innovative Research award contract from NASA.Under the Nasa MISSE program, the proposition will test Infinite Composites materials for cryogenic tanks outside the ISS.

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The Infinite composites and AGM and have combined to develop the material for the space exploration - Industry Reporter

As a child, what did you want todowhenyou grew up?

I grew up fascinated by space science and the world around me. As I grew older, this extended to a desire to understand societal and human issues, but I never really knew what I wanted to be apart from something that let me keep learning.

Explain your work in one easy paragraph.

I direct the UKs National Space Academy, which helps young people navigate towards careers in the space and wider science and engineering sectors. I have other roles nationally and internationally, including a lot of space science policy and government advisory work. I do some research: Im a co-investigator on a new planetary drilling technology being developed by the University of Leicester. And most importantly, Istill have opportunities to teach.

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Being invited to be principal investigator for an International Space Station experiment conducted by Tim Peake was a tremendous honour and took my understanding of humanspace flight operations to much higherlevels. My current work for the Science andTechnology Facilities Council and the European Space Agency focuses on long-term planning for UK physics research and human and robotic exploration of the moon and Mars.

How has your field of study changed in the time you have been working in it?

In my lifetime, we have seen distant moons transformed into worlds of fire (Io is the most volcanic object in the solar system), of ice (Europa, Ganymede, Callisto) and possibly of life (Enceladus). We also now have a far better understanding of the impact of human activityon our planet, the most astonishing, diverse planet in the solar system.

If you could have a conversation with any scientist living or dead, who would it be?

To be honest, I am more stimulated by the realdiscussions I have with young researchers and students. They are the true crucibles of creativity and innovation of thought.

What achievement or discovery areyoumost proud of?

Teaching young people really brings home to methe fact that the 21st century is theirs, not mygenerations. Sometimes, I think politicians need to be reminded about this.

What scientific development do you hopeto see in your lifetime?

The discovery of microbial life elsewhere in thesolar system would be one of the greatest achievements of science. But evidence of intelligence elsewhere in the universe would havea transformational impact on human civilisation, for better or possibly worse.

Do you have an unexpected hobby, and if so, please will you tell us about it?

I have been a freediver, scuba diver and skydiver for more than 20 years. When jumping out ofaplane with friends, the sky transforms into anaerial playground with a horizon over 100kilometres away. For that magical minute of free fall, the third dimension becomes accessible and you gain a new and very personal perspective of our home planet and our relationship with it. Even after nearly 1500 jumps, I never tire of it.

What is the best thing you have read orseen in the past 12 months?

The writings, activities and impact of advocates like Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai challenge my generation in ways that may make us feel uncomfortable but which are essential for us to take on board.

OK, one last thing: tell us something that willblow our minds

I think I first heard it in a speech by the Astronomer Royal, Martin Rees: The greatest complexity we see in astrophysics and astronomy pales into insignificance when compared to the biological complexity of a simple ant.

Professor Anu Ojha OBE is director of the UK National Space Academy and a director of the UK National Space Centre. He is also a member of the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council, the European Space Agencys Human Spaceflight and Exploration Science Advisory Committee and the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leicester

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UK space academy boss Anu Ojha on what finding aliens might mean - New Scientist News

From a radio telescope capable of detecting alien life forms to a poem beamed into the sky as a message from Earth, interstellar content will play a big part in Expo 2020 Dubai.

Space exploration has been a theme of the world fair for decades and next year in Dubai South that tradition will continue.

Visitors queued up to see a moon rock brought back by the Apollo astronauts on display at the 1970 world expo in Osaka. More than a decade earlier replicas of the Sputnik satellites drew curious crowds to the Soviet pavilion at the 1958 Brussels exposition.

Hazza Al Mansouris historic achievement in becoming the first Emirati in space sets new heights for our nations achievements

Marjan Faraidooni, Dubai Expo 2020

The Man in the Space Age theme of the 1962 Seattle world fair is believed to have inspired generations into space research and technology.

Closer to home, a global poem will be created at the British pavilion at the expo site next year. The architect was inspired by physicist Stephen Hawkings final project to prepare a message from Earth to advanced beings in space.

The mobility section of the expo, one of three main themes that include opportunity and sustainability, will also document the UAEs space plans.

Hazza Al Mansouris historic achievement in becoming the first Emirati in space sets new heights for our nations achievements, said Marjan Faraidooni, chief pavilions and exhibitions officer, expo pavilions and exhibitions, Expo 2020 Dubai.

Space exploration is set to be a key focus throughout Expo 2020 with the Mobility Pavilion documenting the UAEs space missions.

"Our exciting space ambitions are the next stage of this journey, with preparations already well underway to chart a course to Mars. This demonstrates the UAEs ambitious, progressive vision and technical excellence ideals that also underpin Expo 2020 Dubai."

Pavilions designed by other countries will also engage visitors with space-related attractions and encourage them to conjure visions of future societies.

The UK pavilion will invite visitors to submit words that will be illuminated using music and video projections on LED screens from a stunning sculpture that resembles a splintered cone.

UK designer Es Devlin has conceptualised a constantly changing poem in English, Arabic and Chinese created by expo visitors from all walks of life that will be beamed across the site.

She said the idea drew directly from one of Stephen Hawkings final projects the Breakthrough Message.

Hawking and his colleagues invited people around the globe to participate in a competition in 2015 to consider what message they would want to communicate as a planet should Earth one day encounter advanced civilisations in space.

What if the UK Pavilion at Expo 2020 became a place where visitors from all over the world chose to take part in a collective global project that showcases British expertise in AI technologies and poetry while transcending national identities? Ms Devlin said.

The China pavilion will explain how a giant satellite dish located in the southwest Guizhou province listens for radio signals from outer space to detect alien life.

The size of 30 football fields, the Five-hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope or FAST is the worlds largest single-dish radio telescope.

Exploring space, hunting for extra-terrestrial life and a better understanding of the origin of the universe are its high reaching aims.

Luxembourg will also feature space content in its pavilion. The country has agreed to work with the UAE on space exploration and its pavilion will be re-purposed as a permanent space centre after the expo.

Other pavilions that will feature space exploration include the Canadian and Belarussian structures to touch on that will touch on aerospace innovations and space research.

Updated: October 6, 2019 08:52 AM

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Earth's first message to aliens and an ode to space to feature at Expo 2020 Dubai - The National